Eureka business evacuated following natural gas leak

A natural gas leak caused Humboldt Land Title, Co. on the 1000 block of Sixth Street in Eureka to evacuate its offices around 3 p.m. today.

"A vehicle in the parking lot sheared the gas supply for a generator out of the ground," Humboldt Bay Fire Battalion Chief Kent Hulbert said. "The employees self-evacuated the building."

Around 3:15 p.m. the building was reported by dispatch as fully secured. Around 15 to 20 people had left the building.

Hulbert said the pipe was plugged with a piece of redwood, which he said is standard because redwood is malleable. The responding fire unit then used a bottle of soapy water to check the seal of the plug. He said the plug will stay in place until the gas line is repaired.

Humboldt Land Title employees said the generator is mainly there for back up power, but has not been used for a number of years.